Although it may seem far away I have benefitted so much from reading in our cosy hyster home and getting aquainted with "overseas hospital procedures" that I am taking the chance of letting you read a little from the world wide web too. It seems many things are done differently, which shows how many thruths there are. Some sisters have written that it is amazing how different the viewpoints of different doctors can be. This is even more so when you cross borders or oceans...
I had lived at peace with my fibroids for the last 20 years. The first one was diagnosed when I was pregnant with my little one, who is now serving his military duty in the navy... I am 47, have always had interesting jobs and taken new courses of studies beside having a family of five - so I kept myself occupied and didn't pay much attention to heavy periods, extensive bleeding or even the weight gain during the last six months (?). Then just after Christmas I broke down with a severe case of anemia, was ordered to keep away from working so hard and do something about the bleeding, the cause of the trouble. Well, I do suspect the cause really is whatever caused the fibroids to grow wild, but nevertheless I couldn't but agree that it wasn't a good idea to go on as if nothing had happened. I got iron infusions twice a week and was treated with methergin (?) whenever I started bleeding again - which was 10 days in a cycle of 21 days...
My doctor told me the only alternative to an operation (she had scanned the fibroids to be the size of a week 12 pregnancy then) was a Mirena IUD, something I didn't get too thrilled about, since I do not much like to mess around with hormones and to have something inside me I cannot control. But I wasn't much in favor of an operation either. It took until the next "period" for me to realize that things were completely out of control anyway, so suddenly I knew I wanted the hysterectomy-solution. By then I didn't care much what they would take out and how, just if it would end the situation.
It was my gynecologist who suggested the LSH-version, which I had never heard about before. But I had already picked my hospital - a place where they practice anthroposophic medicine - combined with all the rest of it, of course. Although it was far from my home (a-hour-and -a-half by train) I knew it was the kind of environment I wanted. After my gyn had talked to the gyn/obs head of department (sorry, I do not know the adequate terms, I'm afraid) she said OK. So I went to see them about three weeks pre-op and had a very good and supportive consultation with the female head of the gyn/obs bit. She would have preferred a LAVH, but was quite willing to do the LSH, too. They actually use laparoscopic methods on myomectomies a lot, so she seemed experienced in this field and I immediately felt very confident that it was the right thing to do.
Three weeks later I checked in on the day before the operation (unless it is minor surgery they always check you in the day before here). I did my blood and urine checks - and was happy to hear that my blood count was good enough for an operation, better than I had suspected! Appearantly I had eaten and iv-consumed enough iron to be rattling in my blood... Also a young intern was allowed to use me as a victim for her first try on anamnestics(?), taking my history and introducing me (again) to the operating team, the head of the department, her "first officer" (?) and the anaesthesiologist. I had another thorough check-up and scanning for dimensions, and by now the uterus+fibroids was up to week 20... I gave my consent to go over to a SAH, if it was too much for the LSH. And by the way - in the interview with the anaesthesiologis I discovered just how healthy I am! All the things on his forms I do not have! Plus that he marked with a grin that I run half-marathons and at least 2x10km a week (when healthy, mind you!). But I must admit that I was also a bit stirred up emotionally and shed a few tears - just as the "first officer" came into my room later to explain a few details. He was very reassuring and told me to cry, if I felt like it. It's not a thing you do so often, going into an operation to sacrifice an organ... I asked about the catheter procedure - funnily enough I was worried about this small detail. And I wonderes would there be much "bloodshed"? How long would the operation actually take (2-3 hours, he said...) Got good answers for everything, and I felt more calm again.
Actually I had just started bleeding again and was a little afraid that they would postpone the whole thing, but we agreed that we would just go on as if we hadn't noticed. Just because someone asked this question recently. Appearantly they are only hesitant if your blood-count is so low that it might drop too far down through the menstrual bleeding.
In the evening I was helped to empty my bowels (enema) and shaved a bit - very carefully and not too much. I had dinner, well, a cup of broth, in the dining hall of the ward, where I met a wonderful young woman, who had just had an ovarian cyst removed. This is another nice thing - a very light and cozy "common room", where you have your meals as soon as you can get up.
Then they asked if I wanted something to sleep on, but I wanted to be undoped to sort of say farewell and thanks to my uterus. I read a little, prayed a lot of thankful prayers and meditations and felt generally very relieved that the whole thing was finally starting! Had no nerves to watch TV - although I had wonderful single room with a very high-tech- flat screen... But I had a good night entertaining myself with my own thoughts, sleeping off and on, and resting in other ways!
The next morning they made sure I was up at seven (the only time, otherwise they never interfered with my sleep patterns, a miracle, because in most German hospitals they wake you up at six when the night nurse goes home...). I got my gown (with cute flowers on it!), my stockings and some kind of special sheet under me - I do not know why? Then I had a pre-medication pill and slowly became dizzy. I remember waiting for the elevator with the the young man who was taking me to the operation area, when my surgeon came by and her telling me to think of a good place to be... and that the young man told me about his job being a kind of reintegration chance for long-term- unemployed people... and talking to a male nurse in the op-area who told me just where he came from... Uzbekistan? Afghanistan?... I am sure he told me, but I don't remember... and a nice warm sheet instead of a blanket... did I get onto the next "bed" myself? ... seeing my anaesthesist from afar...
... and just after that I was in the waking-up- room... my husband is there... everything went well... but, boy, why was it so late already?... Operation lasted 5 hours... but no abdominal cut. ... almost no blood lost... have to pee... where is the catheter?... already taken out... great, didn't notice having one... working well with the bed pan... freezing and having more blankets...
Somehow I got to my room. So nice to have my dear husband sitting there with me, and I myself - smiling, smiling, smiling, happy to be through with this first part... no pain ... pain medication in the iv, which I don't remember when they put up... was already far away then... surgeon and "first officer" came in to see how I was doing... showed me some impressive photographs of the operation... Uterus was huge, much more than they had expected after the scans. Biggest fibroid 17x20 cm, many smaller ones... size of a week 24-week-pregnancy...
Had some other medication for the night... Night nurse checking my pulse and blood pressure stopped the infusion, because I was so low down, but I didn't seem to need them anyway... slept off and on, very happy...
Next morning I was still delightes with the success, and proud of my good doctors... the young intern came in and we talked a lot, about her plans, the operation, many other things... also the nurses seemed to have plenty of time and patience. I never heard one word that wasn't very considerate!
Pain-wise the day after was worst, but not because of the surgery, but the CO2-gas used for laparoscopic operations was stuck everywhere in me... So I had suppositories of the more harmless kind a few times during the day (the i.v. was already out, also nice) and that was it. Started eating, but there seemed to endless spaces in my intestines - so much room after all they had taken out. I felt light-weighted, slim, happy for well trained muscles in the belly, but still somehow "loose". The bowel movement worked again the next day and after that there were no problems, only longer "intervals". Got up on the day after surgery, but very weak, only with a nurse or my husband. Day 2 I started getting up for meals, in the evening in our "common-room", where some of us hysters exchanged stories - all sorts of operations, I began to realize how many indications there are and that each requires an individual look at the best way to proceed.
I spent 10 days at this wonderful hospital, being offered special massage and curative eurythmy after a few days, great healthy food, nice people, good books and the tv, few visitors (which was nice in my case, since I really needed to rest) - mostly my husband and my second son who lives in Berlin, where the hospital is located.
After 8 days I had the final check-up - which didn't hurt - and saw the pictures once more, now more awake. The doctor was quite proud of how they had done this, and I was too! Especially since I by then realized how privileged I was to be eligible (well, with a lot of good will...) for a LSH and how much of an advantage it was to be in good shape to begin with, despite of the anemia-problem.
On day 10 I went home by speed-train, accompanied by my son who carried the luggage. And I was certainly very happy to be home again after that, exhausting. Since then I have been taking it easy. I have no pains, feel stronger every day, and am still not to be working for more than another four weeks (all in all it will be more than 7 weeks! Very generous, I feel, but good for me and the throrough healing).Now I can also start thinking a little more about what went wrong to begin with, why these fibroids had to grow and when... My brother is a doctor for psychosomatic medicine and an analyst and myself do a lot of counselling in my work. So I will not neglect this part.
I hope this wasn't too much and too exotic. Once I started wirting I just couldn't stop. I guess it could be part of the healing...
Thanks to all of you for reading all this and generally for making this place so special! And thanks to all the wonderful people I met on my way! I will always be so grateful for what they did for me! If anyone ever needs a hospital in Berlin, I highly recommend the Havelhöhe!
I had lived at peace with my fibroids for the last 20 years. The first one was diagnosed when I was pregnant with my little one, who is now serving his military duty in the navy... I am 47, have always had interesting jobs and taken new courses of studies beside having a family of five - so I kept myself occupied and didn't pay much attention to heavy periods, extensive bleeding or even the weight gain during the last six months (?). Then just after Christmas I broke down with a severe case of anemia, was ordered to keep away from working so hard and do something about the bleeding, the cause of the trouble. Well, I do suspect the cause really is whatever caused the fibroids to grow wild, but nevertheless I couldn't but agree that it wasn't a good idea to go on as if nothing had happened. I got iron infusions twice a week and was treated with methergin (?) whenever I started bleeding again - which was 10 days in a cycle of 21 days...
My doctor told me the only alternative to an operation (she had scanned the fibroids to be the size of a week 12 pregnancy then) was a Mirena IUD, something I didn't get too thrilled about, since I do not much like to mess around with hormones and to have something inside me I cannot control. But I wasn't much in favor of an operation either. It took until the next "period" for me to realize that things were completely out of control anyway, so suddenly I knew I wanted the hysterectomy-solution. By then I didn't care much what they would take out and how, just if it would end the situation.
It was my gynecologist who suggested the LSH-version, which I had never heard about before. But I had already picked my hospital - a place where they practice anthroposophic medicine - combined with all the rest of it, of course. Although it was far from my home (a-hour-and -a-half by train) I knew it was the kind of environment I wanted. After my gyn had talked to the gyn/obs head of department (sorry, I do not know the adequate terms, I'm afraid) she said OK. So I went to see them about three weeks pre-op and had a very good and supportive consultation with the female head of the gyn/obs bit. She would have preferred a LAVH, but was quite willing to do the LSH, too. They actually use laparoscopic methods on myomectomies a lot, so she seemed experienced in this field and I immediately felt very confident that it was the right thing to do.
Three weeks later I checked in on the day before the operation (unless it is minor surgery they always check you in the day before here). I did my blood and urine checks - and was happy to hear that my blood count was good enough for an operation, better than I had suspected! Appearantly I had eaten and iv-consumed enough iron to be rattling in my blood... Also a young intern was allowed to use me as a victim for her first try on anamnestics(?), taking my history and introducing me (again) to the operating team, the head of the department, her "first officer" (?) and the anaesthesiologist. I had another thorough check-up and scanning for dimensions, and by now the uterus+fibroids was up to week 20... I gave my consent to go over to a SAH, if it was too much for the LSH. And by the way - in the interview with the anaesthesiologis I discovered just how healthy I am! All the things on his forms I do not have! Plus that he marked with a grin that I run half-marathons and at least 2x10km a week (when healthy, mind you!). But I must admit that I was also a bit stirred up emotionally and shed a few tears - just as the "first officer" came into my room later to explain a few details. He was very reassuring and told me to cry, if I felt like it. It's not a thing you do so often, going into an operation to sacrifice an organ... I asked about the catheter procedure - funnily enough I was worried about this small detail. And I wonderes would there be much "bloodshed"? How long would the operation actually take (2-3 hours, he said...) Got good answers for everything, and I felt more calm again.
Actually I had just started bleeding again and was a little afraid that they would postpone the whole thing, but we agreed that we would just go on as if we hadn't noticed. Just because someone asked this question recently. Appearantly they are only hesitant if your blood-count is so low that it might drop too far down through the menstrual bleeding.
In the evening I was helped to empty my bowels (enema) and shaved a bit - very carefully and not too much. I had dinner, well, a cup of broth, in the dining hall of the ward, where I met a wonderful young woman, who had just had an ovarian cyst removed. This is another nice thing - a very light and cozy "common room", where you have your meals as soon as you can get up.
Then they asked if I wanted something to sleep on, but I wanted to be undoped to sort of say farewell and thanks to my uterus. I read a little, prayed a lot of thankful prayers and meditations and felt generally very relieved that the whole thing was finally starting! Had no nerves to watch TV - although I had wonderful single room with a very high-tech- flat screen... But I had a good night entertaining myself with my own thoughts, sleeping off and on, and resting in other ways!
The next morning they made sure I was up at seven (the only time, otherwise they never interfered with my sleep patterns, a miracle, because in most German hospitals they wake you up at six when the night nurse goes home...). I got my gown (with cute flowers on it!), my stockings and some kind of special sheet under me - I do not know why? Then I had a pre-medication pill and slowly became dizzy. I remember waiting for the elevator with the the young man who was taking me to the operation area, when my surgeon came by and her telling me to think of a good place to be... and that the young man told me about his job being a kind of reintegration chance for long-term- unemployed people... and talking to a male nurse in the op-area who told me just where he came from... Uzbekistan? Afghanistan?... I am sure he told me, but I don't remember... and a nice warm sheet instead of a blanket... did I get onto the next "bed" myself? ... seeing my anaesthesist from afar...
... and just after that I was in the waking-up- room... my husband is there... everything went well... but, boy, why was it so late already?... Operation lasted 5 hours... but no abdominal cut. ... almost no blood lost... have to pee... where is the catheter?... already taken out... great, didn't notice having one... working well with the bed pan... freezing and having more blankets...
Somehow I got to my room. So nice to have my dear husband sitting there with me, and I myself - smiling, smiling, smiling, happy to be through with this first part... no pain ... pain medication in the iv, which I don't remember when they put up... was already far away then... surgeon and "first officer" came in to see how I was doing... showed me some impressive photographs of the operation... Uterus was huge, much more than they had expected after the scans. Biggest fibroid 17x20 cm, many smaller ones... size of a week 24-week-pregnancy...
Had some other medication for the night... Night nurse checking my pulse and blood pressure stopped the infusion, because I was so low down, but I didn't seem to need them anyway... slept off and on, very happy...
Next morning I was still delightes with the success, and proud of my good doctors... the young intern came in and we talked a lot, about her plans, the operation, many other things... also the nurses seemed to have plenty of time and patience. I never heard one word that wasn't very considerate!
Pain-wise the day after was worst, but not because of the surgery, but the CO2-gas used for laparoscopic operations was stuck everywhere in me... So I had suppositories of the more harmless kind a few times during the day (the i.v. was already out, also nice) and that was it. Started eating, but there seemed to endless spaces in my intestines - so much room after all they had taken out. I felt light-weighted, slim, happy for well trained muscles in the belly, but still somehow "loose". The bowel movement worked again the next day and after that there were no problems, only longer "intervals". Got up on the day after surgery, but very weak, only with a nurse or my husband. Day 2 I started getting up for meals, in the evening in our "common-room", where some of us hysters exchanged stories - all sorts of operations, I began to realize how many indications there are and that each requires an individual look at the best way to proceed.
I spent 10 days at this wonderful hospital, being offered special massage and curative eurythmy after a few days, great healthy food, nice people, good books and the tv, few visitors (which was nice in my case, since I really needed to rest) - mostly my husband and my second son who lives in Berlin, where the hospital is located.
After 8 days I had the final check-up - which didn't hurt - and saw the pictures once more, now more awake. The doctor was quite proud of how they had done this, and I was too! Especially since I by then realized how privileged I was to be eligible (well, with a lot of good will...) for a LSH and how much of an advantage it was to be in good shape to begin with, despite of the anemia-problem.
On day 10 I went home by speed-train, accompanied by my son who carried the luggage. And I was certainly very happy to be home again after that, exhausting. Since then I have been taking it easy. I have no pains, feel stronger every day, and am still not to be working for more than another four weeks (all in all it will be more than 7 weeks! Very generous, I feel, but good for me and the throrough healing).Now I can also start thinking a little more about what went wrong to begin with, why these fibroids had to grow and when... My brother is a doctor for psychosomatic medicine and an analyst and myself do a lot of counselling in my work. So I will not neglect this part.
I hope this wasn't too much and too exotic. Once I started wirting I just couldn't stop. I guess it could be part of the healing...
Thanks to all of you for reading all this and generally for making this place so special! And thanks to all the wonderful people I met on my way! I will always be so grateful for what they did for me! If anyone ever needs a hospital in Berlin, I highly recommend the Havelhöhe!
